Manny POV

Pledging was no joke.

He was not dumb, he did not go into it thinking it would be babies, kumbaya, and rainbows, but the constant yelling and getting in his face was a lot to handle. It was like his father talking to him about something he did not want to hear.

They finished their second set with the Big Brothers and were back in their dorm room, relaxing and letting the stress out. Jordan was on his bed, in his pledge clothes of black dickies pants, and a white t-shirt, with his shoes still on.

Why was he so tired?

He was not the only one they made do jumping jacks while reciting the Greek Alphabet forwards and backward ten times because Jordan kept saying "Uh." Brian was not in his face every time he asked a question. Taj went easy on Jordan, barely even yelling at him.

Tonight, their assignment was to read the first chapter in their Intake Study Guide. It had detailed breakdowns of the founding and how everything went down. Back in 1979 at the University of Illinois, the "Black Power" era was growing strong and so was the Black Panther movement. None of the other Greek organizations wanted to touch upon what the Panthers stood for.

Epsilon Upsilon did. They were started as an ode to the Panthers, and their hand sign was the raised "Black Power" fist. Being as they were all pre-law, they challenge every law that hindered Black students on campus, and because of them, there were many changes to race relations on that campus.

Of course, they wanted to spread it around but it was tough getting young Black college guys to listen. Founder Jessie Wentworth went on to graduate school at SIUE and helped to charter the second chapter there. From there, each future chapter was chartered by one of the Founders. Seventeen chapters at seventeen colleges, mostly in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri.

He was so into his reading while Jordan slept, that he read the next chapter. The chartering of the first Alumnae Chapter and their first National Convention. This was his first time hearing of some of the real work that was done. Writing their new constitution, oath, and mission statement. Drafting and perfecting their rituals over the years. And developing their brotherhood songs.

He got into that because he loved music and writing songs. He was just starting chapter three when there was a knock on the door.

He knew it was the girls without asking. He opened the door for them.

"Hey girls."

"Hey, Manny!" Laila gave him a big hug.

He smiled, still unsure of where their relationship was headed, but liked her attention.

"Awww, look at my baby." Markeeta walked over to Jodan's bed and sat beside him, rubbing his back. "Did those guys hurt you tonight? They better not laid a hand on my boo."

They told the girls they were pledging, it made no sense to keep it from them when they saw them every day.

"He's fine."

"Are you?" Laila asked, looking him over.

"It's cool."

"I don't understand why you want to pledge Manny, it doesn't seem, like you."

"Why? I don't even know what that means."

"Frat guys are so....what is the word...jerks!"

"You can't say that about all fraternity guys because you do not know all fraternity guys." He went to sit at his desk, with Laila sitting on his bed."

"All they do is party and drink and get all the girls they want."

He side-eyed her. "Is that what you think I'll be like?"

"Not my boo!" Markeeta snuggled against Jordan in the bed, and he was not going to stay in the room to see all that.

He stood. "Laila, want to go walk with me? We can talk."

"Okay."

Leaving the room would give Jordan some privacy if he even woke up and gave Markeeta any attention. And give him a chance to tell Laila he liked her and wanted her to be his girlfriend. Pledging a fraternity was not going to change him into the guy she thought he would. Well, he hoped not.

They made it outside and it was a nice end-of-summer day, hot and breezy. It was late, after ten at night, so there were not a lot of people around. For a while they walked silently, he did not know how to start the conversation.

"Laila, are you worried about me becoming a guy like that?"

"Uh..."

If he never heard that word again, he would be a happy man. He knew he said it a lot himself, but now it annoyed him. Maybe he was changing.

"No Laila, just talk to me." He stopped walking and picked up her hand. "I know you like me. I like you too. I like hanging with you and talking to you. Can we..." He stopped himself from uttering that word. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled. "Yes."

That was easy. He felt better now.

"Can I ummm...kiss you?" Laila asked.

Whoa! He was not expecting that. Why hadn't he? That's what girlfriends and boyfriends did. Except, he never had a girlfriend, therefore, he never kissed a girl. He was nineteen, almost twenty and he never kissed a girl. He felt like a lame.

He wanted to kiss Laila, but now he felt the pressure.

"Uh..." Damnit! What was wrong with him? A pretty girl liked him and wanted to kiss him. What was he going to do?

Kiss her.

He moved in a bit closer to her. She was short, at least five feet with some change, he was six feet tall. It didn't matter, she stood there, expectantly, looking up at him...waiting.

"Just touch your lips to hers! That's all! Kiss her!" his brain was yelling at him.

"Stop being a coward!" the other side of his brain yelled at him.

So he went for it, his lips finally meeting hers. It was a simple peck, his lips pressing onto hers. Why did her lips feel so soft on his? He wanted to kiss her again. Maybe with more feeling this time, like he saw in movies.

He kissed her again, and again, and then put his arms around her, pulling her closer, as the kiss got more passionate, open-mouthed, and insert tongue. His body grew hot, things started to change. This was not his first time getting an erection, but this was the first time he got one with a girl so close to him.

He quickly moved away from her.

"Sorry!" He covered himself with his hands. They were outside, in front of the residence hall, anyone could see him.

Laila was flush, her face reddened, but she was smiling. "Don't be. I like that you think of me that way."

Did she feel it? Oh man, he would never live this down. She would dump him because she thought he was a horny toad.

"PK, it's okay. I'm flattered."

"My father is not a Pastor, he is a Deacon, there's a difference."

"Okay, but that's what I like about you." She put her arm around him, and laid her head on his chest, but not too close that she could feel his erection that would not subside.

"Laila, you're the first girl I ever kissed."

"And you're a great kisser!"

"I want you to know, I would never become like the frat guy you were talking about. That's not me, will never be me. I have you and that's all I need."

"Okay, I hope so."

The next day at set, they were in trouble. Because of him.

"My man, my man! My Bond Bro, chip off the old block, was having a whole make-out session outside, in front of the world!" Brian shouted out.

What? Did he see him?

"Imagine doing a drive-by of your dorm, and who do I see, in his pledge clothes no less, my Bond Bro and a babe, like getting it in!"

"It wasn't like that Dean Big Bro-"

"Your tongue was down her throat, right? Basically humping her in the streets."

"We weren't-"

"My man!" Brian held his hand out for him to dap up, and he did, but he felt so bad. He was not doing whatever his Big Brother thought he was doing. It was just a kiss, with his girlfriend.

"Man, that's not a good look." Brian switched up on him, and now he was upset. Confusion set into Manny's head.

"He's getting more action than me, so big up to that," Taj said. "But do that shit in private."

"Especially while you're on line, my man." Brian was up in his face, which meant he meant business. "In fact, no sex for you, let's take that off the table."

It was never on the table, but he let his Big Brother rattle on.

"No sex for you," and he turned to Jordan. "And no sex for you. No girls, guys, or whatever you like. No fucking around while you're pledging, you need to focus all your energy on Epsilon Upsilon."

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Jordan stated, breaking his usual silent code.

"If I could do it, you two can do it. I ain't playing. I will know if you're fucking."

How could he possibly know if they were? As it were, he did not know that he was a virgin. He was not planning on having sex with Laila...not now...but maybe one day. He was not trying to wait for marriage or anything, just for a girl to like him. Now that he had that, of course, he had thoughts about taking things further with Laila.

Now that was on hold. All was well, how long was the pledge process?

"Thanks a lot, bro," Jordan whispered to him.

A/N: The first kiss was hard for me to write. I don't even remember mine. What do you think about the guys abstaining while pledging? We know Manny was not going to rush into things, but Jordan, uh...

See what I did there? Jumping jacks for me.